If I Could

{86} - Under Pressure

This chapter is dedicated to lisayager! Thank you for the support! Hope you all are having an amazing summer! 💖

"Isn't it great?".

"What?", Belle Taylor asks, eyebrows furrowed.

"That you're having another little girl," John Deacon clarifies.

"Oh, yeah."

Belle's apathetic answer takes the four men around her aback, all of them frowning discreetly, looking at each other with confusion. They look perplexed but Belle is also perplexed at something:

The sight in front of her.

Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon are all together in the same room. Belle doesn't think that it's ever happened before, at least not in this way, because they obviously were at her wedding and Alice's christening. What she means is that it's never happened in such an intimate way, all five of them sitting together, chatting happily. It's a small feeling of joy in such troubling times — having the most important men in her life with her.

"What do your children think about their future new little sister?", Brian May asks Roger Taylor with a big smile plastered on his face, putting away the stereo camera he always carries with him. Roger thinks it's weird how Brian's job isn't being a professional photographer, or a professional guitarist, he's incredibly good at both activities and Roger cannot simply understand how he ended up being an astrophysicist.

"They're very delighted," Roger answers cheerfully, resting his head on Belle's left shoulder. "Well, only Victoria and Matilda are delighted. Damian is still hoping for a brother. And I'm just trying to let him know that the fact she only has sisters doesn't mean they cannot play with him."

"Well, that's true, and he should be happy about the fact that he has siblings at all," Brian giggles. "I'm an only child, and believe me when I say it gets really boring."

"It does," Freddie intervenes, nodding his head vigorously. "I'm six years older than Kashmira, so I do remember having to play on my own. It was boring. I would have loved to give Belle a sibling but I'm not straight, darling!", Freddie covers his mouth while he smiles.

Everyone in the room laughs, including Belle, but noticing that her smile was fake wasn't rocket science, which means everyone noticed it, which means it made her stepfather worry about her. John stares at her with a worried expression, looks around to see if anyone else notices it.

They seem to do.

"Are you okay?", John Deacon asks Belle Taylor hours after everyone, including Freddie, have left Garden Lodge. She is waiting for Roger, who had left minutes earlier to pick up Damian from his horseback riding lessons.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?", Belle bristles, she doesn't yell at her stepfather but the impression is similar. John, unfazed, takes a step closer to her, shoves his hands inside his pockets and meets Belle's gaze dead-on.

"Because you've been acting weird."

"Do I really look so dejected?", Belle asks as she tries not to break down in tears. "Tell me the truth."

"Honestly? You look like you're in pain," John answers with downcast eyes. "Belle, we're worried about you. Even your father has expressed his concerns to me. There's something wrong and you're not telling any of us."

It's ridiculous, the thought that crosses Belle's mind is completely ridiculous, but John Deacon is the right person to be the first to know about her unborn daughter's non-paternity event. Of course it should have been Freddie, she knows it should be Freddie. But telling Freddie first would require that Belle explains the entire situation to him, which means Belle should talk about Ben and that's exactly what she doesn't want to do. She knows that the way she talks about Ben is the same way people talk about people they love.